Dudemanbro429 and the State of Competitive Rulings
dudemanbro429 during Spring Masters, season nine.
The dust hardly settled following February’s SMITE Pro-League play-in tournament before another controversy stirred the SMITE world. Moments after the shocking conclusion, which saw heavy underdog Gilded Gladiators usurp the final spot from the Niflheim Wargs, members of the community brought to bear the past misgivings of dudemanbro429, then carry for the Gladiators. Accusations of extensive racism and various other patterns of destructive behavior were levied against the rookie-to-be as fans came to grips with the prospect of dudemanbro serving as one of 40 players, many of whom are the game’s foremost ambassadors, in SMITE’s premier competitive circuit.
Calls for Hi-Rez to investigate dudemanbro’s misconduct were accompanied by more extreme demands for his immediate suspension, and after a brief period of silence, Hi-Rez announced on Friday that dudemanbro would be suspended from competitive play indefinitely. The term ‘indefinitely’ has been used by Hi-Rez as a soft-permanent ban, signaling to suspended players that, while they have no guarantee of being reinstated, that possibility remains open at the league’s discretion. For the most part, indefinite suspensions are an effective-if-confusing approach to competitive rulings, as they allow Hi-Rez to take a strong stand against various kinds of misconduct without permanently shrinking the already small talent pool for their two competitive circuits. I say confusing because how players get reinstated is somewhat opaque—in the summer of 2020, Haddix, then playing in the Challenger Circuit, was indefinitely banned for a similar offense. He was quietly reinstated in September of the same year and debuted in the SPL the following season. Likewise, in season eight, Leviathans’ rookie Julio was banned indefinitely for in-game threats and was only recently reinstated. Casual observers of the league have no insight into how these decisions are made, or why, if at all, they should welcome these players back into the league with open arms.
Still, despite some fans claiming the contrary, the decision to give dudemanbro an indefinite suspension is at least consistent. Hi-Rez’s decision regarding Haddix was more or less identical, and he was only allowed back after establishing a clear change in his attitude and behavior—something which, to his credit, was already underway before Hi-Rez issued their decision. Others have pointed out that Hi-Rez should have known about DMB’s misconduct before the play-in tournament and issued his suspension long ago. That may be true. Not for nothing, dudemanbro was a regular competitor in the challenger circuit for the last two seasons. Nonetheless, it is still a positive that Hi-Rez reacted decisively in response to community pressure. One could argue that they shouldn’t need that pressure to act, but it is absolutely a good sign that they’ve shown a willingness to listen to the community.
However, Hi-Rez’s decision can’t escape all criticism. The official reasoning provided by the league was that DMB’s second account is currently permanently banned, which constitutes a conduct violation per league rules. This may be true, but it is clear that Hi-Rez’s decision comes as a response to the litany of Twitter accusations and not merely a banned account. Hi-Rez seems committed to delineating between in-game and out of game conduct violations. For instance, in the wave of suspensions that came in 2020 when Hi-Rez made racist and other abusive language a point of emphasis, CaptainTwig and SoloOrTroll were given lighter suspensions for off-platform offenses, whereas Haddix’s indefinite ban was for conduct directly associated with his in-game account.
Hi-Rez may have good reason for treating in-game conduct more severely than out-of-game. For one thing, they have greater oversight over in-game behavior with access to chat logs and player reports. This approach also narrows their policing relationship with the players, and limits their responsibility and exposure to conflict. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but it has muddied the waters regarding DMB’s suspension, as the actual specifics of his misconduct are hidden behind vague language and a laundry list of competitive rules they used to make the decision. DMB took advantage of this on Sunday when he Tweeted that his ban was due to run-of-the-mill toxicity and not a pattern of racist behavior (which he claimed was a fabricated allegation). Of course, it would take a special kind of naïveté to believe that assertion given the context of this decision, but part of the blame falls on Hi-Rez for not explicitly identifying what behavior prompted the ban and instead opting to obfuscate for the sake of simplicity.
In any event, a day will come when DMB has a chance to return to competitive play so long as he demonstrates growth and understanding. That process seemed to get off on the right foot on Friday when, in an earlier Tweet, he appeared to accept responsibility and commit to growing and doing better. It’s easy to react with cynical skepticism when players apologize only after punishment, but it is at least a step in the right direction. Then, in a shocking and grotesque 180, he backpedaled that attitude with a slew of excuses, claiming that his ban wasn’t due to racism but rather merely acting unkind to other players. He acknowledged that he had used a racial slur in the past, but alleged that he had been allowed to do so by his black friends. Unequivocally, that is not how slurs work, and it is merely a tragically misguided attempt for DMB to soften the optics of his behavior. He maintained some vague language about knowing his actions were wrong, but it rings empty when couched between so many excuses.
Even though the path is long, DMB still has a way back into competitive SMITE. In yet another Tweet on Monday, he stated that he had nothing to prove to anyone but himself. That is ironically untrue since, if he ever wants to play competitive SMITE again, he has to convince both the league and the community that he has recognized the error of his ways and changed accordingly. Should he manage to win an appeal sometime down the line, the question remains: will the fans welcome him back? Should they? If he really can change, then I argue that they should. After all, if you have moral convictions, you should encourage those same convictions in others. But as it stands, for dudemanbro429, climbing that mountain seems like an awfully tall task.
For Hi-Rez’s part, more transparency regarding both what specific actions prompted a suspension and how appeals are decided could go a long way toward restoring fans’ trust in Hi-Rez’s decision-making process.
